William Shakespeare has a special place in everyone's heart. For some, it might be a fairly sour place; but maybe that's the reason why No Refund Theatre's (NRT) production of The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged is set on poking fun at everything Shakespearean.

The show will be performed at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday in 111 Forum.

"We're performing all 37 of Shakespeare's plays in about an hour and a half," director Jason Whittle (senior-electrical engineering) said.

Whittle has participated in over two dozen NRT plays, but is taking the most liberties with this one.

"It's basically a living script, and the cast has really made it their own," Whittle said.

The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged was written more than a decade ago by three American men who called themselves the Reduced Shakespeare Company. The play, which is currently the longest running comedy on the London stages, begins with Romeo and Juliet, in which every effort for a laugh is attempted. Romeo is a drunk and Juliet is, of course, played by a man. It is then followed by Shakespeare's histories played out in a football game.

"The authors of the play encourage updating," Whittle said. "There are a few inside jokes, but nothing that won't be over anyone's head."

Nicole Marinos (senior-agriculture and extended education), assistant director and stage manager for the play, said the cast is very tight

"I had a couple of weekend workshops at my house and we all became really close," Marinos said. "It's a good thing too, because we're always throwing people around in the play."

Considering the amount of plays the show covers, its cast is surprisingly small. There are only five core actors, each playing dozens of characters. Jake Waldman (senior-psychology) is one of the core actors who will play five different characters in the play.

"I basically play me, playing other characters," Waldman said. "It's a lot of fun taking a really sarcastic spin on Shakespeare."

For Waldman, this is his second play with NRT, but three of the other four core actors are fresh to NRT.

"We brought a lot of new talent into this play," Whittle said. "NRT used to be pretty exclusive, and now everyone is pretty much welcome."

Whittle said casting was a good experience and he essentially chose the five most versatile people who tried out.

"I knew I needed actors that would be able to pull off multiple roles," Whittle said.

Kim Cicconi (freshman-journalism) is one of the actors new to NRT. She said working on this play has been a enjoyable experience.

"I love NRT and this play is a lot of fun," Cicconi said. "My favorite gag is Titus as a cooking show, or Hamlet backwards."

One of the play's main problems is keeping all of the characters straight, and because of this, the costumes are an essential aspect.

"I think the actors will all be wearing a different base color so the audience can keep them straight," Whittle said. "Sometimes a change of a hat is all that will be done to change a character, but that's part of the fun to this play."

There will be an open dress rehearsal tonight at 8 p.m. in 111 Forum for those who are unable to attend the shows this weekend, and the cast encourages all to attend, despite one's level of knowledge of Shakespeare.

"I think the play will be hilarious," Marinos said.